Jojosan Rules	Home Back to BIG Working Notes
In This Document Double Duty Raises Our Hackles The Gerbil is Losing the Race Databases Rule the World Always Include an Include Field Two Fields Are Better Than One	Some of our ideas become so important to the product that we offer our clients that they become one of our Jojosan Rules. The following are the current version Jojosan Rules:

Back to the Top	“Double Duty Raises Our Hackles”	Home Back to BIG Working Notes
In This Document Double Duty Raises Our Hackles The Gerbil is Losing the Race Databases Rule the World Always Include an Include Field Two Fields Are Better Than One	That’s the way we first identified a potential productivity area for a potential client. It comes from a rule that is elemental to working efficiently in the computer age. And the rule is: Once something is input to a computer, re-input should only occur for verification purposes. Exceptions to this, as to any rule will occur. But any duplicate data entry should be investigated as a highly probable source of process improvement.

Back to the Top	The Gerbil Is Losing the Race	Home Back to BIG Working Notes
In This Document Double Duty Raises Our Hackles The Gerbil is Losing the Race Databases Rule the World Always Include an Include Field Two Fields Are Better Than One	We often say that employees are so busy just keeping up with their jobs that they are like gerbils on an exercise wheel, frantically trying to keep from getting run over if they don’t keep up the pace. Work processes that are reactive rather than proactive perpetuate this type of environment. For example, investigating what other people input to two different systems is inherently reactive because you don’t have any control over what was input. And this is compounded when you must ask someone else to do something (i.e., authorize a code) before you can correct the problem. Focusing on ensuring accurate data entry into the one system, then simply recapturing that same information into another by manipulating the data is a more proactive approach that will empower your staff and ensure success – every time.

Back to the Top	Databases Rule the World!	Home Back to BIG Working Notes
In This Document Double Duty Raises Our Hackles The Gerbil is Losing the Race Databases Rule the World Always Include an Include Field Two Fields Are Better Than One	Putting information into a database allows you to use that information as a resource. Once you put information into a database, you can organize it, shuffle and sort it, see trends, perform analysis and create forecasts, generate reports and forms. The watchword in corporate America is always effective management of change; databases are a Transition Trump Card.

Back to the Top	Always Include An Include Field	Home Back to BIG Working Notes
In This Document Double Duty Raises Our Hackles The Gerbil is Losing the Race Databases Rule the World Always Include an Include Field Two Fields Are Better Than One	One of the major flaws in most database design is the lack of an Include field. One component of data manipulation is data selection, and flexibility and control are important aspects of data selection. Include fields provide Users a guaranteed method of selecting data, with maximum flexibility and the ultimate control. A status report could use pre-set queries to narrow the data selection while final inclusion in the report could require an “X” in the Include field.

Back to the Top	Two Fields Are Better Than One	Home Back to BIG Working Notes
In This Document Double Duty Raises Our Hackles The Gerbil is Losing the Race Databases Rule the World Always Include an Include Field Two Fields Are Better Than One	Using an individuals name as the simplest example, field design should always allow for maximum flexibility without complicating the data. So, first and last names should always be separated, middle initials should never be in their own field, titles (Mr., Mrs., Ms.) are a good thing to capture, occasionally, so are Salutations (a letter addressed to Mr. Jones, could have a Salutation that reads “Dear Bob.”). One of the major flaws in most data collection is to collect the person’s whole name (Name = Bob Jones; if not Name = Mr. Bob Jones!). It is easier to combine separate fields into one (Title + First Name + Last Name = Mr. Bob Jones) than the reverse.